Cutting corners: As the memory crisis makes modern graphics cards less affordable each month, users, manufacturers, repair shops, and resellers are finding creative ways to squeeze every gigabyte of VRAM out of a skewed market. One method involves upgrading a nearly decade-old flagship GPU.
Budget users shopping for a path toward mid-range 4K gaming or heavy AI workloads might want to investigate a Hong Kong-based reseller. The vendor recently began offering Nvidia's RTX 2080 Ti with double its original memory for less than its current average price.
Originally released in 2019 with 11GB of GDDR6 VRAM, the 2080 Ti was a flagship in its day and still keeps pace with more recent mid-range cards. The GPU launched with an MSRP of $999 but can typically be found for roughly $670 these days.
However, users still holding on to eight-year-old 2080 Ti cards can double the GPU's memory to 22GB by replacing its 11 1GB modules with the same number of 2GB modules. Less savvy users can pay repair shops like the UAE-based GPU Solutions to perform the operation, and Zhou's store recently began selling pre-modded units on eBay for $529. The reseller notes that the modded GPUs come from various manufacturers, including Gigabyte, MSI, Asus, and Leadtek.
The upgrade gives the 2080 Ti ample headroom for handling diffusion models, large language models, and modern games at 4K with high-resolution textures and ray tracing. Modding an existing GPU is likely a good way to extend its lifespan during a time when rising memory costs have led to price hikes, with more on the way.
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On the other hand, while Zhou's pre-modded cards might sound like a bargain compared to typical offers for stock models, shoppers might also want to consider more recent mid-range GPUs with similar or slightly better performance. The 2080 Ti's closest modern alternative is probably the 16GB RTX 5060 Ti, which currently goes for around $570. Its slightly better performance, more advanced ray tracing cores, and support for frame generation might make the modestly higher price worthwhile if gaming is the primary use case – and 16GB is still plenty of memory for 4K gaming.
Shoppers should probably decide soon, as GPUs are expected to become even more expensive in the coming months as the RAM crisis worsens. The situation is so extreme that cards available at MSRP have become one of QuakeCon's main attractions, and experts expect conditions to last at least through 2027.
Modded Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti with 22GB VRAM is selling on eBay for $500
